2018 Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

 
We traveled too much this year, literally. Six planned trips, three unplanned: South Africa, Monticello, Iowa (niece Allie’s wedding), Chicago, Vancouver, Alaska, St. Louis, Atlanta, Mammoth Lakes, CA, Washington, DC, Singapore (Allie’s second wedding to her husband, Kel Vin), Bali, Sydney AUS, New Zealand. We were on the road 94 days.  Too much. It got so hectic I stopped making lists and went to winging it.
 
The unexpected travel came when the various organizations Tom is working with wanted him at a conference or to participate on a panel.  He has been VERY involved with chronic pain advocacy, medical research advancement, suicide prevention, advocacy online classes and leading support groups.
 
He’s become a bit of a “go to guy” when it comes to understanding chronic pain having been interviewed for national news coverage, had his articles and interviews published, worked with the Dept of Defense and Cedars Sinai among others. He has another offer on the table as of January but is on the fence about taking it.
 
One thing we didn’t expect was Tom’s increased pain. We think his adrenalin masked it when he was volunteering so intensely at our parish for so many years. Once he truly stopped in late 2017 his pain surged, which added many trips to his doc for epidurals.
 
He’s had other medical issues this year which have yet to be fully resolved. We returned from N.Z. last Thursday. Tom was able to see his GP that day who took x-rays. Apparently he had 3 fractured ribs before we left for Singapore and got one more when he fell out of bed in Bali. We now think his earlier respiratory issues might be related to broken ribs. We’ll both be working on improving our health in 2019.
 
The other unexpected trip was my shooting the feature WELCOME TO PINE GROVE (WTPG), in Atlanta. I also shot several more McDonald’s commercials, one for Blue Bunny Ice Cream and have been hired as a voice-over series regular on the animated show THE ROCKETEER. Both WTPG and THE ROCKETEER are slated to air in 2019. Six of the commercials are on hold so we may see them again.
 
We stayed very busy socially, exercising and volunteering.  In fact I had a revelation during my last 8 month effort in chairing the Opportunity Drawing for our Heifer LA 2018 event. I am done officially spearheading anything.  I have loved every minute of my years of leadership and projects, project, projects!  I will always be a volunteer and always fund-raise for Heifer, I just won’t be “Leading the Charge.”  I have retired my shrink wrap.
 
I have never had a problem saying NO; I just rarely did.  I want to do other things now, mainly projects around the house. I have eliminated self-imposed deadlines. Basically, I am semi-retiring from my life, not my career.
 
Last night I cleaned out our spice shelf. If it didn’t have a lovely aroma, I tossed it.  Down 16 spices.  Feels fabulous.  I might take on the linen closet before the end of the year.
 
We are sending our love and prayers to each of you. 
 
Merry Christmas,
 
Marianne and Tom
Your name:
Comment: